PRESIDENT’S MID-YEAR COMMUNICATION, JANUARY 2016
Dear CAAHP Colleagues:
On behalf of your colleagues on the CAAHP Board, I am pleased to share some information with you as
we move into the New Year, 2016. We hope you had a most joyous and relaxing holiday break, however
and wherever you may have celebrated. May 2016 provide you with ample opportunities for professional
and personal success and happiness!
The annual Fall Board meeting was held October 21 & 22, 2015, at BCIT in Vancouver. This meeting
was used to develop an agenda for the upcoming CAAHP annual meeting and conference to be held in
Montreal, at Dawson College, May 25 & 26, 2016. As always, the Board took time to review all the
evaluations submitted at the 2015 conference – we also discussed trends and topics communicated by
members over the last few years. We believe we have planned an excellent program for you in 2016,
with the theme being “Solid Ground and Shifting Sands: the Balancing Act of Post-Secondary
Education Today”. Speakers have been invited to address cultural issues in education; learning
technologies and simulation; and policy and legal issues when dealing with faculty, students and the
health care setting. There will be time for networking and sharing, and we encourage you to come
prepared to share a brief update about priorities at your institution. We also expect an update from the
CSMLS (MLT exam results seem to be a topic of interest these days!), and we anticipate that our
colleagues from CMA Accreditation and CICan will be joining us for at least part of the event.
The venue at Dawson College will accommodate poster presentations or displays – do you have
something you would like to share about your experience with simulation, with cultural diversity, with a
research or scholarly project or initiative? If you would like to provide a display or put up a poster, please
contact me as soon as possible, so we can help make arrangements with Dawson College and with you.
Thanks!
The complete agenda for the AGM and conference will be out to you as soon as possible. We really look
forward to seeing you in Montreal and hope you come with good questions and comments related to the
conference topics. In particular, the speakers who will offer the policy and legal challenges session have
indicated that they will ensure there is time for a Q & A session, so participants can raise issues of
concern from their own experience.
The AGM for 2016 also provides an opportunity for nominations and elections to the CAAHP Board. If
you would like to consider serving as a Board member, please contact Louise Gordon, Nominations
Coordinator, at lgordon@rrc.mb.ca . There are two in person meetings each year – one in the fall and the
other at the AGM and conference – with 2 or 3 conference calls in between. It’s a great opportunity to
work with colleagues from across Canada, to advance education in allied health programs!
We will be providing a full report on CAAHP activities at the AGM. I do want to assure you, however, that
we continue to represent the interests of allied health programs with organizations like CMA
Accreditation, CICan, and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. Although there is still much to be done in
advancing our objectives, we do see increasing opportunities for engagement with partners at the
national level.
On behalf of the CAAHP Board, let me close this report with a big “Thank you” to all our members – we
do appreciate your ongoing support and involvement. Please do contact us with your questions and
ideas. Our input is welcome and critical to our success as a national organization.
Sincerely,
Lynda Kushnir Pekrul
CAAHP President
Dean, School of Health Science, Saskatchewan Polytechnic